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The ‘yawning abyss’ between surface and substance : Organizational life as ‘pseudo-reality’

Hallonsten, Olof LU (2022) In Scandinavian Journal of Management 38(2).
Abstract

Organizational scholars have long studied and theorized the apparent divergence of discourse and practice in organizational settings, and how it affects leadership, management, and professional work. In this article, we review this work and connect it to an hitherto unexplored philosophical line of thought from the writings of the late Czech playwright, dissident and president Václav Havel. In 1978, Havel published an essay that discussed the consequences of the disconnect between official discourse, promoted by the communist regime, and the everyday life of Czechoslovak citizens. His ideas about the ‘yawning abyss’ between the two, and the resulting ‘pseudo-reality’, are explored in this article, as food for thought about... (More)

Organizational scholars have long studied and theorized the apparent divergence of discourse and practice in organizational settings, and how it affects leadership, management, and professional work. In this article, we review this work and connect it to an hitherto unexplored philosophical line of thought from the writings of the late Czech playwright, dissident and president Václav Havel. In 1978, Havel published an essay that discussed the consequences of the disconnect between official discourse, promoted by the communist regime, and the everyday life of Czechoslovak citizens. His ideas about the ‘yawning abyss’ between the two, and the resulting ‘pseudo-reality’, are explored in this article, as food for thought about organizational life in late modern capitalism.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Corporate bullshit, Corporate myths, Management fashions, Philosophy
in
Scandinavian Journal of Management
volume
38
issue
2
article number
101210
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85125655367
ISSN
0956-5221
DOI
10.1016/j.scaman.2022.101210
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
47c9f1eb-eaf8-493b-a15b-b017156a06ea
date added to LUP
2022-04-14 11:48:57
date last changed
2022-04-22 02:23:53
@misc{47c9f1eb-eaf8-493b-a15b-b017156a06ea,
  abstract     = {{<p>Organizational scholars have long studied and theorized the apparent divergence of discourse and practice in organizational settings, and how it affects leadership, management, and professional work. In this article, we review this work and connect it to an hitherto unexplored philosophical line of thought from the writings of the late Czech playwright, dissident and president Václav Havel. In 1978, Havel published an essay that discussed the consequences of the disconnect between official discourse, promoted by the communist regime, and the everyday life of Czechoslovak citizens. His ideas about the ‘yawning abyss’ between the two, and the resulting ‘pseudo-reality’, are explored in this article, as food for thought about organizational life in late modern capitalism.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hallonsten, Olof}},
  issn         = {{0956-5221}},
  keywords     = {{Corporate bullshit; Corporate myths; Management fashions; Philosophy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Management}},
  title        = {{The ‘yawning abyss’ between surface and substance : Organizational life as ‘pseudo-reality’}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2022.101210}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.scaman.2022.101210}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}